The Wager
by lookimacloud
Summary: It is the 1800's and due to a wager his late father won, Scottish Laid, Edward Cullen is due to marry Isabella Swan. Isabella's father however, will not let this shame stand for long. Watch out Edward Cullen of Castle McVere, you have enemies. All Human.


Chapter One

England 1847

'What do you mean my betrothed has wed another?" Laird Edward Cullen of McVere raged at the Duke of Trent.

"'Tis true she has." The old man replied, for he knew that this man's rage would go no further.

Laird Carlisle Cullen's son, he suspected, would be just as pitiful as his father was.

Though the old Laird had spared the Duke's life in a battle between the two, the base of the battle had taken place over whether their children would wed or not. Something the Duke loathed.

Now that the Laird Carlisle had finally passed on, there was no need to hold to that promise. Not now, not ever. His eldest Daughter would never marry the Laird's eldest son.

Being the clever man he was, the Duke married her off as soon as the news had come that Laird Carlisle of McVere had been murdered. Now he had only two daughters left. One pledged to the Earl of Burnswill, and another not of a marriageable age.

He wondered what the old Laird's son would do now.

Ever since he'd arrived at the Duke of Trent's home, Edward Cullen had wondered why the staff looked at him so worriedly. Most English saw him as an outsider. Being raised in Scotland, he could understand that, even though he was English born. But he had always visited this place as a child and he was never looked at as vermin before. Edward stared at the man looking so smug, sitting before him. He was responsible for Edward's less than warm welcome.

All through dinner the youngest of the Duke's daughters, Bella and Alice, had been giving him worried looks. Now he knew why. This bastard, the Duke of Trent, had actually given away his wife-to-be! How dared he?

Alice, bless her ignorance and mouth, had been the first to tell him the truth. She blurted out the devastating news over the last course of dinner and evening chatter. Apparently the Duke sot to keep from him the fact that his bride would not to return from her 'sick aunts' house before his departure, let alone at all.

However, what the Duke did not know, was that Edward did not care which of the Trent daughters he wed, for all carried large dowries, and all fair in looks. Aye they were bonnie lasses. That smug expression wouldn't be there long. Edward looked foreword to his revelation. He would let the Duke think he'd won just a bit longer while he waited for him to remember…

Remember of course, that Edward had the evidence of his father's wager. The letter with the Duke's signature on it, which Trent had apparently and most conveniently forgotten about. His father had personally chosen Rosalie to marry him. However, that was not what the contract stated.

Upon Laird Carlisle Cullen's death or within a week thereafter his departure, the newly appointed Laird McVere was to select a bride, one of the Duke of Trent's daughters.

It had now been five days since his father's murder and Edward wanted his bride.

The Duke probably figured, based upon the few times that Edward had visited this home, that he was completely besotted with Rosalie, and could think of nothing better than to have her fate already sealed. Edward could see that the Duke had not yet realized his mistake.

Now, as the Duke of Trent stared at him so expectantly, Edward smiled. "You're Grace," he continued, amending his tone, "seeing I can no longer wed Rosalie, I will, of course, wed Isabella."

'No!" The Duke exclaimed, shocked to his toes of the change in plans.

"Yes" Edward stated simply. He waited, watching the expressions change on the face of his father's long time rival and his soon to be father-in-law. The thought of being related to him brought Edward close to gagging but he would show no weakness. The Duke would be taught a lesson.

"Yes, I will marry her in her sister's stead. She is but twenty, correct? Past her season, yet still young. I am not looking for a lass with no brains. I will marry her."

He stared at the shock on the gray haired, pot bellied man's face and saw anger and disbelief followed by the 'never' look. Edward calmly added, "The wedding will take place tomorrow, on our way to McVere Hall. I know of a priest we will pass on our way. We leave at sunrise."

The pale-faced man could all but shake his head in denial, for he had no voice to refuse the claim.

"Of Course," Edward continued, "you will give my new bride and myself merry wishes. I do still have the contract signed by yourself and witnesses, stating that I will have one of your daughters' hand in marriage upon my father's death. I am sure you recall signing it." By the look on the man's face, he could see that he now had. "Now that that time has come and I seek her out, I choose Isabella as my bride." With that statement made, and without even looking to see if the Duke agreed to it or not, Edward strode out of the room and up the stairs toward his given chamber.

Isabella Swan of Trent was thankful of the marble statue that she and her sister hid behind. She could not look into the face of the man who demanded to have her.

She and her sister had been so intrigued with Edward of McVere Castle. With his tall frame, and his golden-brown locks of hair tied with leather behind his strong muscled neck. That, and the Laird's unusually wide chest span with that handsome jaw that locked when he had heard of their father's deception. He'd fascinated them.

She and Alice had chosen their favorite hiding place, which they had always used through childhood to spy on their father's business affairs. Now she wished they hadn't

Bella no longer looked forward to a happy future with her beloved Earl of Burnswill. Tomorrow at daybreak, she and Edward would leave for Scotland, and tomorrow afternoon she would be expected to share her husband's bed. She turned into the arms of her sympathetic sister and wept, wept, as she had not done since her mother died.

…

"I shall not pack my things Beth," Bella cried later in the night.

Beth had just given her the 'good news' and was now in the process of packing her travel bags. As Bella sat on her bed the rest of the afternoon, mostly in a daze, she only further realized that this was her dream come true. She'd always wanted to marry Edward, ever since she was a little girl. Nevertheless, in her honor, she could not allow this wedding to move forward. She owed herself to the Earl. He had saved her through most of her family ordeals, by being her only excuse to stay out of her house, and away from her father. It really was not that hard of a decision to make. She owed a debt to Emmett of Barnswell, not the laird.

No, she had quenched her love for Laird Edward a long time ago.

"You haven' the choice, milady" Whispered her long-standing nanny and now Lady's maid.

"You're wrong. I do have a choice. I must find Lord Emmett tonight. There is no other way. I cannot marry this man. I love Lord Emmett." She loved Edward, but she would marry Emmett. And to the ends of the earth, she would follow him. He had long since been her sanctuary and her saving grace. She would go to him tonight and demand that if he loved her, he would take her to Gretna Green strait away and they would elope. It would be the last thing she would ever ask of him. She knew that he would do it too, for he truly did care for her, perhaps, as she is most ashamed to admit, more than she could ever care for him.

Now, as she sat on her bed, Beth gallantly patting her shoulder and giving her encouraging smiles, Bella knew what she must do. All she needed was a plausible excuse to give Beth.

"If Lord Emmett refuses to elope then I shall marry the Laird McVere. Is that not enough B'? Can not you give me this chance to marry for love?" She knew she had won Beth over with that one, for Beth had had similar problems at love's hand. Still, Bella could not help but feel a little guilty over the only fabrication she had ever told her friend. Or the fact that she had to jilt Laird Edward Cullen of McVere.

"Alrigh' Miss Isabella, I won' be tellin', but yer gonna be right back if he says no, right? 'Cuz I ain't be liein' fer ya."

"Oh thank you B', I love you dearly. I must go. Please pack for me the bags I shall need, whether I return wed or not." With that determination, she hastily jumped off the bed and ran towards the window to the climb she had made so many times in her youth. "No one's to know I am gone, and it shouldn't matter if I am not here by morning. Then you may tell the Laird that there is nothing he can do, for I will be married." She said in false cheerfulness.

"Arn' ya forgettin' yer cloak?"

"Oh yes, thank you again." Bella took the cloak from her best friend and proceeded down the side of the wall. She was thankful that the vine had grown over; it could now hold her full weight without mayhap.

Reaching the bottom, she rushed toward the stables to saddle Reida her mare. As she tossed the brittle over her horse, she saw him, the man who wanted her for wife.

Bella sank down in the stall as he passed her. If he thought it strange that Reida should be saddled, he did not stop to investigate. When the danger passed, Bella pulled Reida from the sables. What was he doing here? He was probably checking on his horse, she concluded.

The Scots, she had heard, loved their animals enough to sleep in their establishment at night if the stables were not to their liking. If the horses were suffering from poor keep, than the Scots would too. That was why he would not let Jem, their stable master; take care of his horse when he had first arrived, or so she had been told. Bella could only be glad that her father's stables were his pride and joy and that he often praised himself for having the finest stables in all the bordering land.

Bella set out in the pursuit of happiness. Yes, Lord Emmett would marry her tonight, but if he did not...she was not going to ponder that one. There was no need. She set her pace at a gentle trot and cautiously looked about her surroundings, for the third time.

When she finally reached the single one-way path that would lead her to her beloved's house, the night had turned into one of the blackest she had ever seen. The trees surrounding her on either side, whistled in the carrying wind every now and again. Bella saw a low flying owl swoop down; she surmised that it was probably on its way looking for a kill, of the sort she was doing. The breeze was slightly chilly tonight, but she was not scared or cold. She had ridden this path several times before to Lord Emmett's sanctuary.

She carried on, pondering the looks of her fiancé, picturing him in her mind. She saw him standing tall with his large frame, brown hair, a lighter shade than her own, and broad chest, even more so than Edward's. Edward's! What was she thinking? How could she compare Edward to Lord Emmett? She needed to get Edward out of her mind. Since when had she started calling Edward by his given name? Laird McVere. Or better yet, Laird. That was good, the Laird's broad chest.

Just then, something broke through Bella's hazy pensive thoughts. It was a man sitting ahead of her on a black. This man looked very impressive, even in the distance of their separation and dark sky. Was it he, again? No it could not be, but it was. He must have seen her after all and decided to come after her, wherever she was going. The daft man probably thought that she was running away from him, she was, she had to remind herself blindly.

She road up to him.

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked softly, noticing her lack of baggage and pleased, at least on that front.

"'Tis none of your affair what I am doing, for you aren't my keeper."

"Ah, but I am. You will be in my protection when we leave at dawn, and then officially accountable to me after we wed. Therefore, this is every bit my affair. What are you doing about such late a night, lass?"

"I will not marry you." Bella cried out. How could this man be so arrogant? Did he not know that she gave up loving him? Then again, he never knew that she loved him to begin with, or that she did not and could not stop no matter how hard she tried. As far as she was concerned, she vowed, he would never know that truth. "I love the Earl of Burnswill that is who I'll marry."

So that was it, Edward thought. She was going to ask her betrothed to keep her safe from him. He might have known. Well, he could not blame her, but he was not going to let that happen.

'You will not go there and ask his protection from me. I am the one you are to wed and we are going back to your father's house. You need your sleep if you're ever going to have your energy for tomorrow night."

Bella was appalled. Exactly the reaction he was hoping for. Edward wanted to distract her from her goal. He had not actually been to see the Earl, though he knew she was not going to wed him. He would not allow it. Edward had seen her hiding when he was checking on Lightning, but chose to let her think he had not in hopes of finding out his feisty betrothed's destination at such late an hour. He knew she would never tell him, thus, he followed.

"Just take me home." She felt defeated, he could tell. Her voice had wavered a little.

Bella decided that after the Laird had taken her home she would try, yet again, to reach Lord Emmett, and this time, be more cautious. "Why were you following me anyway?" she asked a bit skeptically.

"We will be heading home tomorrow, during which we marry." He answered her first question, but deliberately left alone the second. "By the way lass, I've already been to see the Earl. He's sold you to me. You raise a high price I'll tell you." He regretted the words immediately after he'd said them. He could see the pain fill in her hazel eyes.

Beautiful eyes, he noticed. The pain made them turn as dark as the night had become. He also noticed that a few locks of her golden-brown hair had come out of their hold. And he was not even sure if she knew that the reason they were sticking to her face, was that she was silently crying.

This was the first time he really looked at her since he had come to collect her sister. He had not seriously looked at her in years. Edward noticed her petite figure; she was a little bit of a thing, almost too small to seat her overfed mare. He also noticed her slim waist, and that she had worn riding, the same dress that she had worn to dine that night. Why had she been so terrified of him that she felt the need to run into the arms of her betrothed? So scared, she could not even take the time to change into the proper riding garments? That was just not possible. He had given her no reason to hate him. In fact, when they were young they were close friends. She should feel nothing but grateful that he had come to take her away from her despicable father.

"You're lying." Her whispered remark jolted him out of his daze and he saw that she was not even looking at him anymore. Her eyes were cast down, and she had a death grip on the rains that made her knuckles turn white, even in the darkness.

Bella knew he was lying; Edward was sure of it, yet she looked uncertain. She was trying to get him to admit he was, but he was not going to give in. She had no way of knowing for sure. She had seen him in the stables, true, but who was to say that he did not ride Lightning, as fast as lightning, to get to the Earl's house.

"No, I am sorry; you truly are my bride-to-be now that he's sold you to me. And your father has given his blessings..."

"No, my father has not given his blessings." She was getting her courage back, and her temper. "And I am not a broad mare to be passed from male to male. I am a Lady, not a tavern wench."

"I am well aware that you are a Lady, Isabella." The vexation in her tone almost made him laugh. He kept himself in check though, so that his words and actions would not hurt her anymore, at least until she was his wife. Edward noticed that his smoldering tone had caused her to blush. And he would bet that she would give anything right now to have it not show. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but chose not to comment.

Bella did not know what to think. She was tied between two worlds, the world of insanity, and the world of Edward. –No! Laird McVere. And his world, seemed all too simple.

He was the man she had loved since the age of eight, at his first visit. But she did not know 'till now that she could ever have him, that she could be his wife. She had always assumed it would be Rosalie in that role. Now however, she was being given a chance to give him her love, as she had always wanted to do.

Bella had trained herself to care for Lord Emmett, but there was no need to force her love for Edward. No need at all. Now, she just wished his love in return. She vowed that one-day, she would have it.

"Fine. If Lord Emmett does not want me, then I agree. However, I strongly suggest that if you're lying you let me go, for he and his men will come after me and if I am married, Lord Emmett will kill you. I guarantee it." Was she mistaken or was that a glint in his sky blue eyes?

Edward could not have hoped for more.

Bella was like a wild snake snapping at him left and right, but she had agreed to marry him, not that an agreement was necessary. She was going to marry him with or without one, but it felt good to have it. He did not care about her beloved Lord Emmett; he would protect her, and keep her, with any number of men he faced. Edward knew Bella would call him arrogant if she knew his thoughts, but he could not make himself care. She had said yes! She must not have loved Lord Emmett very much then, and that pleased the hell out of him. But as Bella turned her mare, he could see that she was still silently crying, no weeping. He wanted to comfort her, but thought it better if she just led the way.


End file.
